Humility is …
Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost: Gospel, Mark 9:30-37 Mark 9:30-37 Power is a challenge. Maybe a better thought: power is temptation. Behind its allure, at no matter what level or position, are all manner of ugly manifestations of...
You and Me
Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost: Epistle, James 3:13-4:10 James 3:13-4:10 We shared together last week that the letter of James is challenging. Doctrinally, yes. And practically as well. Why? Because James is gifted as he wields both Law and Gospel. And whenever the...
And So It Goes
Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost: Old Testament, Jeremiah 11:18-20 Jeremiah 11:18-20 I love the Old Testament prophets. I think it’s their resilience. Some of them recognize that they are not prepared for their task. At least in their own estimation. Some have doubts. Some turn tail and...
Words with Umph
Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost: Gospel, Mark 9:14-29 Mark 9:14-29 Our week’s readings have centered on the power of words. Good words, damaging words, even wasted words. All these are a reality in our daily lives. “Waste not, want not.&rdquo...
Ought Not
Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost: Epistle, James 3:1-12 James 3:1-12 Our Old Testament lesson for the week put on display for us the “overlap” of God’s speech and that of His servants the prophets. Our epistle for the...
One and the Same
Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost: Old Testament, Isaiah 50:4-10 Isaiah 50:4-10 When I took a class on Old Testament prophets in seminary, my professor emphasized that in our reading of the prophets we should come away with the sense that sometimes it’s hard to know who’s...
Making Things Right
Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost: Gospel, Mark 7:24-37 Mark 7:24-37 Jesus loves the little children. And I am equally thankful that Jesus loves those a bit further down the road; we “older children.” Jesus, in our reading this week, brings His healing power to bear on two in need...
Change of Heart
Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost: Epistle, James 2:1-10, 14-18 James 2:1-10, 14-18 James is tricky. Judgment is tricky. Heaven’s sake, being a Christian is tricky. To those of us who claim legacy from the Reformation, especially the Lutheran stripe of it, James can be troublesome. But...
This World Knows Nothing
Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost: Old Testament, Isaiah 35:4-7a Isaiah 35:4-7a Lots of clamor in my country these days. Politics. Surface ideas. Human greed and deep incompetence have a lock on nearly every issue brought to the fore. And somehow in the...
Breathe Out Breathe In
Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost: Gospel, Mark 7:14-23 Mark 7:14-23 Classic Jesus! What in the world does that mean? Well, two things. First, Jesus speaks of the condition of the human heart quite a bit. And second, in His divine diagnoses He is always honest to speak to us the truth...
